Sony raised eyebrows last week by announcing a hefty R$3,999– about $1,850 – price tag for the PlayStation 4 in Brazil; it has now acknowledged the price is unhealthily high but blamed it on local taxes.

In a follow up post on the Brazilian PlayStation Blog, as run though auto-translate, Sony’s Latin America general manager Mark Stanley said the company has heard “hundreds” of negative comments on the “frustration” of the high pirce tag.

The executive said Sony wants to be totally open about the price, which he described as being “not good for our consumers, and … not good for the PlayStation brand”.

63% of the R$3,999 price tag is allocated to compensate for the fees and taxes on imported goods, he said, offering a diagram breaking down the various charges.

Another 15.5% is retailer margin, and 21.5% is the actual PS4 cost itself – about $390.

Stanley said Sony is working to try and negotiate a lower tax burden, and said that Sony will consider manufacturing the PS4 in Brazil; it began producing PS3 units locally this year, resulting in an immediate and significant price drop thanks to the lack of import fees.

The PlayStation 4 launches in North America on November 15 and comes to Europe, PAL regions and selected South American territories on November 29.